Monday, November 09, 2009

A man named Josh Silver has invented self-adjusting eyeglasses for use in underdeveloped countries. The glasses are cheap to produce and do not require a doctor or prescription.

A Zulu man wearing adaptive glasses.

"Silver has devised a pair of glasses which rely on the principle that the fatter a lens the more powerful it becomes. Inside the device's tough plastic lenses are two clear circular sacs filled with fluid, each of which is connected to a small syringe attached to either arm of the spectacles.

The wearer adjusts a dial on the syringe to add or reduce amount of fluid in the membrane, thus changing the power of the lens. When the wearer is happy with the strength of each lens the membrane is sealed by twisting a small screw, and the syringes removed. The principle is so simple, the team has discovered, that with very little guidance people are perfectly capable of creating glasses to their own prescription."

So far, over 30,000 pairs have been distributed around the world by various charitable organizations.